Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Weekly Post #9: When Jim Crow Got Cut From Spring Training
A great read on baseball's segregation issues from back in 1947. So much for baseball being accessible to all people. Even America's National Pastime struggled with how to manage racial relations in the late 40s. How then could it be America's National Pastime if it wasn't representative of the country? What new bit of information did you learn from this piece? What's your take-away?
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I think that it reflects the history of America quite accurately. We wrote about equality in our constitution and fought two world wars fighting for the freedom of "all" people all while keeping our own country segregated and kept racism as the law of the land. In a way it did represent the country and the state it was in. Although I did know a little about Jackie Robinson and the integration of baseball (my grandfather was actually one the first African-Americans on one of Branch Rickey's minor league teams) I didn't know about all the shifting of location or Dodgertown. I had learned a lot from my grandfather but I still learned more about the racism and politics on the owners side.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that struck me the most about this story is everything that Branch Rickey did to ensure that there wouldn't be a conflict, while still allowing Robinson and his African-American teammates to play. It seems like at a lot of points it would have been easier to just cut Robinson and the others and be free of the issues brought on by racism. However, Rickey continually went out of its way to ensure that they could play without issue. I can't help but wonder if he was motivated by making his team the best they could possibly be, or by the idea that he was doing a kind of greater good by sticking with Robinson and thereby sending a message about race in baseball.
ReplyDeleteAs far as being representative of America, I think that this reinforces the idea of baseball as America's national pastime. That was just how the country was at that point in time, and the social climate was reflected in baseball. We may not like to think of America in that light, but whether we like it or not, that was how the nation was back then, and thus baseball was truly American as well.
Sam R.
Joe-
ReplyDeleteI think that the National pastime is representative of our country, but not the MLB itself at this time. The sport itself can be played between anyone and has been for 150 years. This is an example of when the MLB did not represent the whole United States. Branch Rickey was doing something no other owner had done in a long time by bringing in a black ballplayer, so it is very understandable that Robinson not get in any trouble. As public as the whole situation was, the last thing the Dodgers needed was more publicity. As an avid baseball fan, I did not learn very much new information except that the Dodgers played in the Grapefruit League until 2008, which is about 60 years after they moved west. The segregation of professional baseball is an interesting part of the game's history, so I always enjoy reading about it.
Because baseball is America’s national pastime, it reflects the social norms and culture of its era. Even though the sport wasn’t entirely inclusive and reflective of the change towards integration, it still demonstrated the racial tensions and ignorance that plagued the country. It was shocking how paranoid people were at first about causing “incidents” if black players were to stay at the same hotels as the white players on the same team. The conflict between admiring the talent of black players such as Jackie Robinson and yet still treating him as if he was unworthy of logging at the same places as his teammates is contradicting. In this sense, no sport or hobby was exempt of the racism that was perpetuated through all sectors of American life. I personally consider baseball to be currently one of the most diverse sports, especially compared to hockey and football. This history, however, paints a different story, and has allowed me to see how far the sport has come.
ReplyDeleteAlly
For me the fact that segregation was a big part of baseball but it still became ‘America’s National Pastime’ makes complete sense. The definition that we’ve had of America for so long is a picture of a white family: a mother, a father, a daughter and a son all living in a beautiful little house with a white picket fence. That is American. Thus anything that does not fall into that definition: different skin colors, different sexualities, different classes, is not intrinsically seen as American. The America that was being catered to with white baseball was white America and white America did not want to see black people playing alongside their sons as equals. White America did not want baseball to be representative of the country, they wanted it to be representative of the country they wanted to make America into or at least the America they wanted to make themselves believe existed: “pure” white. Sports at the time reflected the political climate at the time, as it does now, and although it is despicable and disgusting, it is not surprising to me.
ReplyDeleteThis piece reflects the dilemma that baseball faced during the 40’s- it was simply not ready for racial integration. Branch Rickey, a man who believed the Dodgers had the best chance of winning with Jackie Robinson on the field, and understood the scrutiny and negative publicity he would receive while Robinson was on the team. It was not about black and white; it was about winning. However, no one saw it in the same light at the time. Nowadays, talent takes precedence over race, with the ultimate goal being to win. This value is stereotypically American, and in a way, eventually allowed for baseball to become the national pastime by prioritizing success of skin color. (In truth, though, I believe it is also our national pastime because it is the longest-standing American sport.
ReplyDeleteGriff
This article exemplifies the hardships that African Americans faced during the Jim Crow Era through the lens of a baseball player. I think that it is sad that many people back then could not see the true reason for letting African Americans to play on major league teams; to win. Aside from a few people, the rest of the public involved in baseball were so deeply influenced by the Jim Crow laws that they were oblivious to the fact that African Americans could help their beloved teams win. They were so worried that this idea was ruining baseballs traditional values, that they did not even consider it. Branch Rickey's risky actions that he took during this time were inspiring as well. To me it seemed like he went through a lot of trouble just to allow Robinson to play on his team, but he was extremely determined. Whether he did it to make his team better or to rise above racism in baseball, he was still a pivotal man in baseball's history
ReplyDeleteI find it disheartening that not even baseball was exempt from the racism that was ingrained in the country. Although America’s Pastime did not literally represent the country, it does represent the social climate before the civil rights act. I hate saying this, but accurately mirroring the struggles for African-Americans during the time effectively makes it America’s Pastime because instead of being immune from the inherent racism, baseball has our country’s history deeply imbedded in its own history. Additionally Baseball is America’s Pastime because despite the racial prejudice in the MLB, people from all races wanted to play and be a part of the sport. By mirroring real issues our country faces, in baseball we can be reminded of our country’s less proud moments, racism, and our triumphs, when segregation was abolished. I would argue that baseball was representative of our country, just not in the way we wanted it to be.
ReplyDeleteThe majority of my knowledge on Jackie Robinson comes from the movie "42" so much of this was a review. However, there were some new aspects of the story that I learned, such as Dodgertown. I find it very interesting how Robinson felt like Dodgertown was “like being confined to a reservation” despite the fact that it liberated the team from Jim Crow era. As for our national past time, it is not a surprise to me that baseball is owns that title. Baseball embodies everything the country has been through throughout its brief existence. Of course there was the horrible racist/segregated time in our country and that impacted baseball, but like America, baseball found a way past the racial issue and now embodies the belief that anyone can play if they work hard enough (similar to the American Dream).
ReplyDelete-Connor R
In my opinion, the journey Jackie Robinson took towards the major leagues exemplifies that professional baseball was not yet equal. Many parts of the nation, including Florida, was not ready to accept a black player into the major leagues. Labeling baseball America's National pastime even at this time in history did not represent every American. Baseball did not represent all races. It was played by white men, appreciated by white men, and owned my white men. White men held the power in the sport as well as in the country, therefore baseball remained the National pastime. I never knew the extent Branch Rickey took to protect Jackie Robinson as he emerged in the majors. It seems countless sacrifices were made for one man's success, yet these sacrifices changed baseball forever. Baseball today is much more of the multi-racial sport it strived to be, yet even in the past two decades racism has been prominent. Even Barry Bond's path to success was shaped by racism. What happens today? To what extent does racism still exist and occur behind closed doors?
ReplyDeleteAngus
This article exposes the one of the long list of problems segregation caused in America. A game that is inherently known as America's Pastime was not exempt from the horrible treatment of African-Americans throughout history, an issue that is still present today. The struggle highlighted in this article is a clear representation of the mistreatment of African Americans at that particular time in history, reaching out of society norms and into the baseball community. Baseball is commonly seen as a sport that is enjoyed by all, as a spectator or participant, so to read this, which reveals yet another aspect of baseball that isn't as perfect as some people see it, kind of taints the lens that I have been looking at baseball through. Although baseball was slightly ahead of it's time with the mixed rooms prior to the government desegregating America, it is still evident that the power of community within baseball is not strong enough to withstand discrimination and segregation.
ReplyDelete-Chloë
Besides the main facts, I didn't know much about Jackie Robinson's journey before reading this article. While I don't think baseball back then was representative of the country, I certainly believe that it was representative of what many/most people (those who had a voice, at least- aka whites) wanted, and that was segregation. It's hard to tell exactly how Rickey felt about about integration- and whether his decision to take Robinson on was based purely on winning, or if he had some motivation to desegregate the game. I somehow lose some respect for Rickey, however, when it says that he didn't want to be embarrassed by public scenes between Robinson and rejection by hotels. This seems like an indication that he was not in full blown support of Robinson, and wasn't fully invested. However, the creation of Dodgertown counters this sentiment, and definitely reflects some kind of compassion and belief that Robinson should not be separated from his white teammates. It's almost funny that he was about to create this great change, and is revered as the guy who partly facilitated the integration of baseball without maybe having that intention. Baseball has not historically reflected a picture perfect ideal, but rather the sometimes rocky and imperfect past of America.
ReplyDeleteSimilarly to Jack, I find this article very interesting, for it represents the racism and segregation African Americans experienced during the Jim Crow Era through the lens of sports, and baseball in particular. People wanted the “White America” to extend to all aspects of life, even sports. Despite African American’s skills as baseball players, people were so wrapped up in the idea of never having whites and African Americans intermingling, especially not having them play on the same team; this idea of blacks and whites being on the same team was detrimental to the American Dream baseball reputation and tradition. I find it absolutely ridiculous that even when blacks were allowed to play on the major league teams they were required to stay at different hotels for owners did not want to create a scene and ultimately end up embarrassing themselves. When Robinson was finally allowed to play under the Dodgers, it was questioned whether Rickey was trying to make a statement regarding African American segregation or if he simply just wanted him for his talent. Either way it was a step in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the majority of the information in this article wasn’t really shocking to me. Racial prejudices were so prevalent during the Jim Crow Era and are so engrained in our country’s history, that it would have been more surprising to me if these views didn’t extend to the MLB. One thing I found particularly interesting about this article is that it only mentioned racial segregation off of the field and between fans/common folk and players rather than some of the interactions between players and other players, or players and managers and such. This makes me hopeful that on the field, baseball was sort of a uniting factor between the races, and that players recognized pure talent as being more important than race. While I find this hard to believe (and I think the movie talked a little bit about how Bobby Bonds felt like his team treated him differently because he was black) I also think that people people who share a talent and an understanding of the hard work that it takes to have that talent always have some sort of connection.
ReplyDelete-katarina
It was still America's pastime because while racial opinions might have been different there was not way to change the history that the sport has had with all of its fans across the country. What I have personally learned for this piece is the actual lengths that Ricky went thought to make sure that there would be no problems and that his players would stay safe even though there were other measures that he could have taken. One thing that I can take away from this is that major sports such as baseball succum to public pressure more than corporations do. They are very vulnerable to public opinion and while they may be trying to create change they are not stong enough on their own to actually do anything.
ReplyDeleteBefore reading this article, I knew little about Jackie Robinson’s experience save the fact that he was the first African-American Major-Leaguer. I always assumed that after the news had spread that Robinson was to be the first African-American in the MLB, most people simply accepted the fact. I had never suspected such resistance and difficulty to have been present in his early career. At first, I was a little surprised that the team was not allowed to train in certain towns (as such difficulties never seem to befall clubs today), but after short consideration, my surprise faded as I realized how many white Americans probably felt threatened by Robinson’s hiring. For many whites who wanted to remain in supremacy over African-Americans, having something so sacred and special as baseball be “contaminated” by blacks foretold the end of jim crow and a new era of equality (undesirable to some).
ReplyDeleteThis article is very interesting because it touches on the commonly unknown history of discrimination that negro baseball players had to go through. It is very important to look at the aspects of live that these players have off the field and i feel that this article did a great job expresses those hardships such as trying to have a place to stay or where to have spring training. Given that is was the Jim Crow Era, I was not surprised to see discrimination within baseball yet I was surprised that there wasn't any bigger conflicts and fights. Maybe this article just doesn't touch on that but i would think that reactions from southerners would be quite violent. I was also surprised to see that there was no mention about what went on between the players and how white players responded to both playing and living with african americans. Something new that i learned from this piece is the cooperation of some of these town mayors and their support for african american ball players even though they had to make sure not to displease the public. I think the most important take-away from this article is that you must really think about all aspects of life of these African American baseball players and how truly difficult it was for them to make it as a professional ball player both on and off the field
ReplyDelete-Cooper